Assembly Republicans divided on DNA collection

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Republicans who control the Wisconsin Assembly are divided on how to handle collection of DNA from people arrested for felonies.

Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday that Republicans are not unified in support of a bill that passed the Senate last week that would require the DNA collected to go straight to the state crime lab, rather than be kept by local police.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has complained that delaying getting the DNA to the crime lab needlessly complicated the law, which takes effect in April 2015.

Under the Senate version of the bill, the Department of Justice would not be allowed to analyze the DNA until there has been a finding of probable cause or other conditions are met.